“Stress Is Your Health Problem!”

 

This might sound crazy but did you know that stress is good?  We are designed to thrive on stress. So why is everyone so stressed out.  Let me explain.

Your body has to adapt to every change in your environment…Every change!  Getting up from a chair, eating food (good or bad), parenting a 15 year old, the scent of perfume, talking on cell phone, parenting  a 15 year old, pain, pesticides, infections, and parenting a 15 year old are all stressful.

Some of these stresses are natural (like a 15 year old) and some are not (like cell phones).  The issue is how well can you adapt to those stresses. When you have more stress than you can handle then you get anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia and your overall health starts to fail!

There are three ways to help your body to handle stress.  The first is to use chemicals that short circuit the nervous system.  Chemicals like xanax, prozac, ambien, alcohol, and my favorite, dark chocolate!  They all can be helpful to help you adapt to stress, but do not address the underlying cause and create their own problems (with the exception of dark chocolate ;-).

The second way is to avoid a stressor.  This can be helpful when you are beyond your capacity to handle that stress.  Things like poor posture, chemical toxins, pesticides, GMO foods, destructive thought patterns, electronics, infections are things we can and should limit our exposure to.  Exercise, hard work, overcoming challenges in relationships, etc. should be a normal part of our life and will improve our health and are beneficial when your body is not overburdened.

The third way to better handle stress is to do things that increase your ability to handle stress.  Your body runs on many cycles. During the day you use lots of energy to adapt to the stress of life.  During the night, If you sleep, your body charges back up, detoxifies and heals. So eight hours of uninterrupted sleep (best without electronics), one day of rest each week (best without electronics) is a super important part of that cycle and improving your ability to handle stress.  Exercise is an example of a stress that will help you handle more stress. Exercise will stress you out and then when your body is at rest (sleep) it will recharge and build itself back up in a way that will increase your ability to handle a new increased level of stress.

So in short, limit or eliminate unnatural stressors like processed foods, chemical toxins (like conventional lotions, soaps, make up, etc.) move back to old-school incandescent or  halogen light bulbs, limit exposure to personal electronics, and focus your mind on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

Make it a priority to consistently get a good night sleep.  Practice taking one day per week to rest. Add some physical exercise that pushes you just a little bit more than what is comfortable.

Since 1991, I have been developing  “Stress Response Technique” a health improvement system which identifies and corrects the underlying stressors that keep you from being your healthiest.

Located on the corner of Cumberland Ave. and Higgins Rd. in Chicago we can help you live your healthiest.

One Comment

  1. Thanks for the article!